Page:The Collected Poems of Dora Sigerson Shorter.djvu/44

“And once her father's name she'd cry,
And twice her mother's call,
And thrice on Black Earl Roderick
Who loved her not at all.

“And every night she came and wept.
So long upon the hill,
And watched the lights in her lost home
Until the dawn grew chill.”

“What did you tell to her, old witch.
When weeping she passed by?”
“I took her pretty hand in mine
And bid her not to cry.

“I traced upon her slender palm
That luck was changing soon;
I swore that peace would come to her
Before another moon.

“I said that he who loved her well
Would robe her all in silk,
And bear her in a coach of gold
With palfreys white as milk.

“I told, before three suns had set
He'd kneel down by her side.
That he she loved would love her well
And she would be his bride.”

Now pallid grew Earl Roderick;
He turned his charger home;
Vowed in a tower he'd lock his bride.
So she no more could roam.

But when he reached the castle grey
He searched both high and low:
But none had seen his pale lady,
And none had seen her go.